PAN-demonium

I know - holy cheesy post titles, right? It was either that, or the SHEET hits the fan.

I would like to show you something.

These are my cookie sheets. They are very old. One is an Airbake-style pan that is sort of bent in spots. I hate that it gets water inside sometimes. I've had it longer than I can remember. I think it came in a two pack at Costco! The other is a Chicago Metallic cookie sheet that I got at Linens and Things. Very simple and utilitarian.

So what's the deal with them?

Well, I like to bake, obviously. I like to bake a LOT. I've been using Silpats instead of parchment paper or greasing my pans for years, and I love how they work. Here is the problem:

That's right - they don't fit my cookie sheets! On the Chicago Metallic sheet, the ends curl up and my cookies will actually slide as they bake, causing them to collide and meld together into a giant clump. The Airbake pan holds it a little better, but you can see there is some overhang. Also, both pans end up with the edges being completely unusable and I end up wasting space. Drives me nuts!

I've been thinking about upgrading to a professional style half sheet pan for a while. They look nice and would bring a bit of uniformity to my mish mash of bakeware. I found some on the King Arthur Flour website, but they were a bit spendy at twenty bucks each, so I kept putting it off. Finally, this past weekend my husband and I were looking at the catalog and he said something about how it would be nice if they just had a store that sold restaurant supplies like that around here so we wouldn't have to pay all that shipping on top of the high price for the pans.

Yup. Another "DUH" moment.

I pulled out my trusty iPhone, opened up the Maps app, and entered "Restaurant Supply" in the search field. Immediately, little green pins fell from wherever it is they fall, and I was clicking links and checking websites until I found the magic words:

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

We rolled ourselves into Tempe, found the place, and let me tell you, I was in HEAVEN. If I had more money I would have rolled out of there with a TON of stuff! I was well behaved though, and only grabbed a few items. Of course, I got two of these:

And look!

Now the Silpat fits perfectly! Hooray! Check out the little notches in the corner to make it easier to get it out of the pan. So, so clever. Best part - they were only seven bucks each. That's a SERIOUS discount over the one at KAF!

I also got this:

Of course, it was empty when I bought it. I read this article online about making artisan bread in five minutes a day and I knew I had to try it. The first thing I had to do was find a container that had a lid that could be left open, but still cover the container properly. Also, the container had to fit neatly into my refrigerator and leave room for other stuff. That meant a square container.

I had been watching Alton Brown use these food service storage bins on his shows for years and knew that if I could only find one, it would be perfect. You guessed it - King Arthur Flour had them for seventeen bucks. I got mine for thirteen. Not bad!

Finally, I got this little guy. I have these great dreams of making my own sourdough from scratch, which means I will need to make my own starter from scratch. That means I need someplace to make my starter. King Arthur Flour sells these in a set of three for $19. I don't NEED three though, I just need one! Luckily, I found one, and it was just a little over three bucks. Kick butt!

Of course, I didn't find everything on my wishlist there. I still want to order KAF's bread bags and a dough whisk. I'll feel better about it now though thinking about all the money I saved, not only with the stuff I bought, but in shipping too!